Ortigas Branch & Associates Research Papers
 Research Paper No. 1 - Exchange-Traded Funds: Are They the Right Choice?
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are recent phenomena that started in 1993
when State Street sponsored the first ETF in the form of the SPDR
Trust. New funds are constantly being formed and ETFs now provide
investors with viable alternatives to mutual funds. SPDRs (SPY) attempt
to track the S&P 500 index much in the same way that Vanguard
manages its popular S&P 500 mutual fund. |
Research Paper No. 2 - Combining Estate Planning with Asset Allocation
Although estate planning has long played a critical role in preserving
wealth for future generations, this area has been dominated by
attorneys and trust administrators. Investment professionals, however,
can benefit their clients by developing an understanding of how the
mechanics of wealth-transfer techniques work. The integration of asset
allocation techniques with estate-planning structures allows investment
advisors to enhance the after-tax, multigenerational value of clients'
overall portfolios. |
Research Paper No. 3 - Establishing a Family Office: A Few Basics
Many families who have experienced a significant liquidity event will
consider setting up a family office. The purpose of this Research Paper
is to discuss the reasons families consider establishing an office, to
describe the typical duties of such offices and to suggest a basic
framework for designing and setting up a successful family office. |
Research Paper No. 4 - Conflicts of Interest: Do They Matter?
Private investors today have more choices than ever before. The
explosive growth in private wealth in the last decade has caught the
attention of every major bank, brokerage firm and money management firm
in the industry, and the result has been an equally explosive growth in
investment products and investment advisors. Although the broad menu of
choices is ultimately a desirable outcome, the challenge facing
investors is how to distill the available information and create a
logical, thoughtful investment program that is ideally suited to their
needs. |
Research Paper No. 5 - Total Return Trusts
From the time the concept of the trust was first developed in the late
Middle Ages until about the 1950s, trust assets tended to produce far
more income than capital appreciation. The long-term result was
typically that early income beneficiaries fared well, while later
income beneficiaries and principal beneficiaries fared poorly. (The
decline of the English aristocracy was prominently fuelled by this
quiet phenomenon.) All that began to change half a century ago, and by
the end of the 20th century many sensibly invested trusts were yielding
well under 2%. Today, therefore, the problem has reversed itself.
Sensibly invested trusts - that is, those with predominantly
equity-oriented portfolios - tend to appreciate handsomely over time,
but they produce little in the way of current yield in our
low-dividend, low-interest-rate environment. |
Research Paper No. 6 - Taming Your Trust
When families consider the prospect of having to establish appropriate
provisions in trust instruments for spouses, children or future
generations, they naturally approach the matter with trepidation. There
is, first of all, the problem of attempting today to design provisions
that must work well many years, perhaps many decades, into the future.
There is the further problem of dealing with intra-family emotions and
stresses that tend to interfere with otherwise good judgment. Finally,
there is a natural tendency to be intimidated by the legal and tax
complexity that appears to surround the arcane world of trusts. |
Research Paper No. 7 - Investing in Oil & Gas
Energy is a topic that is on the minds of many investors these days.
The enclosed Research Paper, "Investing in Oil & Gas," is a primer
on the techniques, opportunities and pitfalls available to investors
looking at investments in the oil and gas industry. We hope you enjoy
it and find it useful. |
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